The Poetic Tax Man

Kudos to Mr. Tax Man himself, Dr. Arjunan Subramaniam. He has just published his book of poems titled In the Four Chambers of My Heart. Goes to show that lawyers have in them "darah kesenian". All proceeds from the sale of the book will be chanelled to the Divine Life Society.

Dr. Arjunan had lectured me in 2004 on the difficult subject of tax law, when he was Adjunct Professor in University Malaya. In the interview in the Star (17 July 2007) on his book of poems, the Tax Man named Dr. APJ Kalam, amongst others, as his heroes. Which reminded me on the incident that happened during my semester with him.

Pre-2004, the name of Kalam invoked no significance to me. One fine day during lectures, Dr. Arjunan, whom I suspect was feeling rather laidback and breezy, started talking about the great rocket scientist by the name of Kalam. Being nonchalant on my part, Dr Arjunan asked me whether I know of Dr. APJ Kalam, to which I coyly replied in the negative. I was immediately chided for my lack of knowledge. I must admit, it did not felt all that good for my ego, as I considered myself knowledgeable in general Asian politics.

I immediately spent days to weeks researching on the internet on the President of India. Of course what started as a bruised-ego researcher gradually turned into an awe-interest admirer. Today, I can say that Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, the rocket scientist turned President of India/Poet/Author/Professor/Philosopher/Philanthropist/Thinker/Icon, is one of the Greats on my list of heroes.

For this I thank Dr. Arjunan, who himself is somewhat of a local Kalam.
Wassalam